Monday, October 19, 2009

Oakwood Park Disc Golf Course – Cottage Grove, MN

Since I got laid off this morning, I thought I’d take advantage of my opportunity to enjoy the Minnesota weather, since it’s supposed to be nasty the next few days. I hopped online to see which Twin Cities courses I hadn’t played and decided on Oakwood Park. Yes, it’s a drive, but what did I have to do today? Nuthin.It’s a pretty easy course to find, using the directions on the PDGA website. This time of day, there were only a few groups out on the course. I found the first tee and headed out.This course is really fun to play. There’s lots of elevation to navigate (as well as some wind on some of the open holes), and it’s about half and half open and wooded. You play the first 5 out in the open and then head into the woods for the next 9 or 10 holes, then finish up out in the open again. The course is in great shape and there’s pretty obvious trails between the baskets and the next tee, so it’s pretty difficult to get lost. All of the holes have very explicit fairways so you know what the traditional line is, but there are also some places where you can see windows that require a bit more risk (but more reward as well). I played pretty well here, which is surprising for the amount of times I’ve played this year. I’m very impressed with this course and even though it gets overshadowed by some of the courses the big tournaments are played on, this course has some four- and five hundred foot holes on it and some tight wooded shots for finesse. And I do love to see a big finishing hole. The 18th hole at Oakwood is 510 ft, so you really gun it down the fairway. I of course put it at the base of a pine tree – it’s a patented move, kind of a signature of my game.Just go play this course. It’s really not as far away as it sounds.